


Burn It Down

by cheryltopaz



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: A weird mix of Riverdale AU and Before the Storm goodness, Angst, Cheryl and Toni are the power couple we all deserve, Cheryl/Toni/Jughead as the trio we all need and deserve, Conflict, F/F, Fluff, I can't explain what this is but i promise it's going to be good, Majorly inspired by Before the Storm, No offence but Toni is the MOST Rachel Amber, Sexual Tension, Smut, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, The Serpents are the gem of the Northside, Toni Topaz is a Northside Princess gone Rogue and you can't tell me otherwise, and consistent, cheroni, probably post SoDale, smutty af probably, unlike anything i've ever written ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-07 14:26:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14082906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheryltopaz/pseuds/cheryltopaz
Summary: Cheryl and Toni are the Chloe Price and Rachel Amber of Riverdale (A loose BtS rewrite)ORCheryl and Toni are from different worlds, or so it seems. Turns out they aren't so different after all.





	1. Chapter 1

She’d never been to a party like this before.

In fact, she’d never been outside of the boundaries of the Northside before, but when she heard that her favourite local band were playing the old barn on the Southside, Cheryl couldn’t help herself. Her Mother had turned their house into a sex-ridden cesspit of middle-aged men and boy toys; Cheryl was looking for an escape, and a boozy party on the wrong side of the tracks seemed like a pill she’d like to swallow.  
She had some trouble getting in but the giant bouncer was no match for her silver tongue and before long she found herself $200 richer, wearing a band tee, smoking a cigarette and sipping a beer in the corner of the dingy barn. She longed to be deep in the mosh pit, drunker than she was right now and throwing her body all over the place. She longed for it, but she couldn’t do it. When she turned to find an alternative she spilt a beer all over some dodgy looking guy with a black eye and a few missing teeth. Apologising wasn’t something she had time for right now.

‘Oopsies.’ She said, a slight smirk on her lips. ‘Did I make a mess?’

The guy grunted and shoved her out of his way, charging forward into the mosh pit.

The discovery of an unstable balcony overlooking the stage was the best thing that had happened to her all night, sitting on the edge sipping at her beer and listening to the music was the highlight of her life, until it wasn’t.

‘Look what we have here.’ A male voice crooned from behind her.

She sighed and bit down on her lip, turning to face the guy from before.

‘Aw, look, she remembers me.’ He taunted, approaching her.

Cheryl stood and backed away from him, but he approached faster and ran a dirty, calloused hand through her long red hair.

‘Leave her alone.’ A low, husky tone commanded from across the room. The guy turned if not only for a moment and Cheryl thought on her feet, smashing the beer bottle in her hand across his head. The guy lurched forward, swinging for her and clipping her under the left eye. The girl standing at the edge of the overlook grabbed his arm as he went to swing again and used her other fist to send a hard jab into his ribs. Cheryl didn’t speak, she couldn’t speak, she just ran down the stairs, followed by the other girl.

‘Cheryl, are you okay?’ The girl asked her, following her outside of the barn. Cheryl didn’t know what to say, she just looked at her, at her smooth tanned skin and her soft brown eyes and those glimmers of pink in the ends of her hair and swallowed the lump in her throat hard. What the hell was Toni Topaz doing in a place like this? And moreover, why was she helping her? Dressed in her oversized serpent jacket and a black crop top, these stupidly tight ripped black jeans with fishnets peeking out from under them she looked like a nightmare, but she was acting like a dream. Cheryl didn’t understand.

‘Toni.’ She said plainly, looking at the girl.

‘Let me take you home…’ Toni suggested, ‘Please… This skeevy place is not the place for a girl like you Blossom.’

Cheryl softened and then looked at her and raised her eyebrows and said, ‘And it’s a place for a girl like you?’

‘Maybe everything isn’t as it seems.’ Toni said.

‘I get it, you’re a motorcycle riding enigma, no one really knows you, blah blah blah.’ Cheryl rolled her eyes, ‘But seriously, please, please, don’t feed me that bullshit right now.’

‘Let me take-’ Toni pleaded.

‘I came here for the music, I’m not leaving yet.’ Cheryl huffed.

‘Are you serious, right now?’ Toni sighed.

‘Deadly.’

‘Cheryl-’

‘Oh please, no one is going to come near me with you by my side, are they?’ She smirked, running a finger until the lapel of Toni’s motorcycle jacket. ‘You’re like a lil pocket-sized bodyguard,’

‘One song.’ Toni said.

‘At least three.’

‘Or what?’ Toni quipped, biting down on her bottom lip.

‘I’ll tell everyone at school your secret.’ Cheryl teased.

‘Which is?’ Toni asked.

‘That you’re not mysterious, you’re just really fucking full of shit.’

Toni laughed and then extended a hand to Cheryl, ‘Fine. But I’m taking you home at the end of the night.’

‘Jeez Topaz, you could at least buy me dinner first,’ Cheryl smirked, taking her hand and leading Toni back inside where they slipped into the mosh pit, right in front of the stage and flailed their bodies late into the night. At some point, she must have lost count of how many drinks she had because one minute Toni was dancing oh so very close to her and the next moment she was waking up in her king-size canopy bed alone to the sound of classical music playing from downstairs. No doubt her brother had been awake for hours already practising for his piano exam later. No doubt her Mother wanted her head on a silver platter for breakfast. No doubt, she didn’t care.

Besides, upon checking her social media she became acutely aware that her Mother was the least of her worries this morning. A photo of her and Toni together at the party had surfaced online, alongside the caption: **Apparently, I’m full of shit, but rumour has it the only thing full of shit is my music taste.**  
The comments were exploding with confusion, Toni Topaz and Cheryl Blossom? Together? In the social sphere? Never. Not possible. And so, so, so far from acceptable.

Toni Topaz was a Northside princess, all wrapped up in her serpent jacket surrounded by her goons at every turn, Cheryl was just a quiet rich girl that ate lunch alone with Jughead Jones because he was the only person with a family situation more fucked up than hers. Jughead had been fairly normal for most of his life, it was just him and his Dad but this was nothing new for Riverdale. He was happily in love with his childhood sweetheart Betty Cooper until they found out they had a brother in common and the whole damn world fell apart. His Dad and Betty’s Mom got back together after that because their son who had been adopted at birth was so so perfectly fucked up that neither one could raise him alone. Jughead lived alone in a trailer on the Southside now while his Dad fitted right back into suburban life.

Jughead and Cheryl, in the previous world they had lived in would have been an unlikely pair, before SoDale, before the Serpents took over. Before Toni stole any and all chance of Cheryl ever being the most important girl in Riverdale. Before Veronica Lodge was the mayor’s daughter. Before Cheryl’s Dad hung himself and her Mom went full blown crazy.

But in this world, where they existed now, after everything, Jughead and Cheryl made perfect sense.  
Cheryl hadn’t felt the eyes of her schoolmates in over a year, not like this, but all of a sudden she was the talk of the school all over again, worse than she had been after her Father hung himself over some drug scandal involving her squeaky clean brother Jason, who emerged unscathed and was soon to graduate. Veronica Lodge was first to ask about her night with Toni. Cheryl didn’t answer. Betty Cooper asked soon after. Cheryl didn’t answer. There was nothing to say. Josie McCoy was next to ask, but Josie wasn’t half bad to Cheryl so she didn’t really know how to answer.

‘Why do you want to know?’ Cheryl asked.

‘I don’t know.’ Josie shrugged, biting her bottom lip.

Kevin Keller smirked from where he sat, across from his step-sister, ‘Josie has a crush-h-h.’ He said in a sing-song voice.

‘Oh.’ Cheryl said. ‘OH.’ She continued, ‘No, no, no, it wasn’t… it isn’t… I’m not even-’ She stuttered.

‘So Toni is available?’ Josie asked coyly.

‘Uh… Sure… I guess?’ Cheryl shrugged, ‘I don’t know, I really don’t know her that well… She just helped me out last night is all.’

‘Helped you out, eh?’ Kevin asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. ‘Did she unwind your-’

‘Okay, okay, that’s enough.’ Jughead said, sauntering towards Cheryl, Josie and Kevin and throwing his arm around Cheryl’s shoulders, his formerly loose fitting denim jacket clinging to his now stronger, more toned arms. ‘No need to be crude, Keller, Cheryl here had a rough night, didn’t you petal?’

‘Petal?’ Kevin mouthed to Josie, she shook her head in confusion.

‘I’ll see you guys in Chem, ok?’ Cheryl called over her shoulder as Jughead dragged her away toward the fountain in the middle of the quad.

‘Soooo…. You and-’

‘Don’t. Even. Start.’ Cheryl sighed, ‘We hung out, out of nowhere, once, nothing happened, nothing is going to happen, I’m stra-’ Cheryl was about to finish when the front doors of the school opened and her hands were grabbed by soft, tanned hands that pulled her inside.

‘Good, you’re here.’ Toni beamed, ‘Hey Jughead, can I have this dance?’ Toni asked, raising an eyebrow at him and holding both of Cheryl’s hands in her own.

‘Just keep it PG-13.’ Jughead grumbled, adjusting his hat on his head, ‘I’ll see you later Bombshell,’  
Tucked away in the dressing room of the drama classroom, Cheryl sat on one of the tall chairs in the front of the mirror while Toni presumably changed behind the screen.

‘T-’

‘Hey Cheryl, can you grab me my shirt from my backpack?’ Toni called out from behind the screen.

‘Uh, uh, yeah sure.’ Cheryl stammered, ‘Is it the black one over here?’

‘Obviously.’ Toni said, as though it was the clearest and obvious fact in the world. Maybe it was, but Cheryl wasn’t thinking straight right now, instead, she was rifling through Toni’s bag looking for a shirt. She grabbed an oversized white t-shirt from the bottom of the bag and approached the screen. ‘You can come in, y’know.’ Toni urged her, glancing around the corner to where Cheryl stood, mouth slightly agape staring at her, or rather trying not to stare at her, where she stood in a CK bra and her black ripped jeans from the night before.

‘Haven’t you, uh, been home?’ Cheryl asked, averting her gaze and stepping behind the screen. Toni took the shirt from her hands and turned her back to Cheryl, lifting her arms high above her head to pull her shirt on. Cheryl couldn’t ignore the way the muscles in Toni’s back rippled when she lifted her arms, nor could she ignore the tightness of her abdominal muscles when she turned to face Cheryl again, pulling her t-shirt down over her stomach and tucking it into her jeans.

‘No,’ Toni answered, ‘I haven’t, I couldn’t… I didn’t want to go home, after last night.’ She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and said, ‘I didn’t want it to end.’

Cheryl swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled a flat smile, ‘Uh, me… neither…’

‘Plus, I, uh, couldn’t really go home anyway, because I told my Pop I was sleeping over at your house- Don’t. Say. Anything.- Because I knew I couldn’t come home after curfew with bruised knuckles smelling of cigarettes’ Toni explained, staring down at the floor and kicking her feet at the ground.

‘Where did you sleep?’ Cheryl asked.

‘I didn’t.’ Toni shrugged, ‘I just sort of drove around all night, it was pretty late when I dropped you off so it wasn’t a long-’

‘You… _did_ … leave me home last night then.’

‘I said I would, didn’t I?’ Toni crooned.

‘We didn’t-’

Toni laughed a soft laugh, which faded into a warm smile, which faded in Cheryl melting into a puddle on the floor.

‘Thought you didn’t swing that way bombshell,’ Toni winked.

‘I…’ Cheryl sighed, ‘I don’t.’ She affirmed. ‘I-’

‘It’s okay, you made that clear last night,’

‘What?’ Cheryl asked, ‘Did you-’

‘You don’t remember?’ Toni asked.

Cheryl shook her head.

‘Right come on, I need to get a shower and you look like you could use some breakfast,’ Toni grinned, leaning over Cheryl to grab her motorcycle keys off the table.

‘No- no… I’m not riding on that death machine- and anyway, I have class…’ Cheryl murmured.

‘Come on bombshell, don’t back out on me now.’ Toni persisted.

‘Fine. But I have to be back here for sixth period Calc. or I’m definitely going to fail my midterm.’ Cheryl sighed.

‘You’re so lucky you’re pretty.’ Toni chuckled.

 

Toni lived in a quaint house on the border between the Northside and the Southside, not exactly what Cheryl expected from Riverdale Academy royalty but nevertheless, it’s what she got. Her Pop was obviously not home because as soon as they got through the door her jacket and shirt were discarded on the couch and Toni sauntered through the house in her jeans and bra, just like before.

‘Make yourself comfortable, I won’t be long.’ Toni said.

Cheryl nodded carefully and sat down on the couch beside Toni’s discarded clothes, twiddling her thumbs in the silence waiting for the girl to return. She was about to get up and leave when Toni returned to the living room in a tiny pair of black river vixens sweat shorts with a towel wrapped around her chest. She dropped the towel, back turned to Cheryl and threw the t-shirt on over her naked chest. Cheryl thought she might pass out, this was all just too much too quickly. Cheryl couldn’t think of a time where she hadn’t nearly passed out looking at Toni Topaz ever since they met. They hated each other at the start, and then they could have loved each other if Cheryl was honest with herself but instead they went from enemies to strangers and never looked back. Until now, though, she guessed.

‘So, what does Miss Bombshell want to eat?’ Toni asked, for the second time.

‘Huh?’ Cheryl replied, snapping herself out of the daze she was trapped in.

Toni turned away from Cheryl and smirked, draping her serpent jacket over her arms.

‘Do you wear that jacket to sleep too or just every time someone can see you?’ Cheryl asked, suddenly feeling the need to throw Toni off her scent.

‘Was that sass I detect Blossom?’ Toni quipped, discarding her jacket on the coat rack in the kitchen. ‘Because if it was, I don’t half appreci-’

‘Toni, what am I doing here?’ Cheryl asked, ‘We haven’t spoken in over a year and last time you saw me you called me-’

‘We talked last night.’ Toni corrected her, ‘Last time I saw you, I saved your ass, and a thank you might be nice.’

‘Toni-’

‘Look… Everything that happened last year… It shouldn’t have happened the way it did.’ Toni said, ‘I’ll be damned if I let it happen like that again.’

‘What do you want?’ Cheryl asked, ‘Because you know I’m not-’

‘Cheryl, chill out,’ Toni sighed, sitting down next to her on the couch, ‘I only tried to kiss you last night because you looked super pretty…’

She paused, and mumbled under her breath, ‘Not to mention super interested…’ Her voice picked up volume again, ‘Under those neon lights. It was a moment of madness, nothing to worry about… Really.’

Cheryl bit her lip. Okay, okay, this was good? Wasn’t it? Toni wasn’t interested. Cheryl could keep up the ruse for a little longer. This was good.

Except, it wasn’t, not really. Toni didn’t know whether to accept disappointment or continue in disbelief. But she knew herself, somewhere inside Cheryl something was working on her, something was about to explode, and all it would take was for Toni to stick around. She knew Cheryl was interested in her from the first time they laid eyes on each other at the street race last year when they were just stupid Sophomores. She also knew Cheryl wasn’t anywhere near ready to admit it. She knew Cheryl had a lot of pain, and if she had to help alleviate it from the outside in, then she was willing to.

‘Let’s just, try being friends, yeah?’ Toni suggested.

‘Are you calling for a truce?’ Cheryl asked.

‘Something like that, yeah, but hey, let me cover up that lil bruise for a start, yeah?' 

'My eye bruised?' Cheryl mumbled. 

'Yeah... I didn't want to mention it at school because you can't really notice unless you're looking for it, but hey, I presume the Hellhound will be looking for it.' 

By the Hellhound, she meant Cheryl's Mother, and she wasn't wrong. 

Cheryl nodded her head sheepishly and held her breath when Toni returned with her makeup brush and a tiny bit of stage makeup she had left over from the special fx makeup class she took as an elective last semester. 

'You can breathe, you know.' Toni reminded her. 

Cheryl shook her head. 

'What, scared I'm going to know you want to kiss me?' Toni teased. 

Cheryl didn't reply. 

'Cheryl- I'm kidding...' She said. 

Cheryl didn't reply. 

Toni set the make up brush down and sat down on the coffee table, her knees between Cheryl's open legs and looked at her pensively. 

'I know the score, okay?' Toni said soothingly, 'I get it... You're not interested, that much is perfectly clear.' 

'Toni... I'm just...' Cheryl said. 

'Straight, I know. You've tol-'

'Scared.' Cheryl corrected her. 

'What?' Toni responded. 

'Don't play dumb with me now Topaz.' Cheryl was staring intently at the ground, avoiding any and all source of eye contact with the girl in front of her. Toni reached her hand over and placed it on top of Cheryl's. Cheryl was quick to snap her hand away. 'You say you get it but you don't, you're this super confident, out, ridiculously charming and witty and funny fucking idiot and I'm-' 

'Sensational?' Toni suggested. 

Cheryl sucked in a harsh breath, one single tear trickling down her cheek. 

'You think I didn't know how close we came last year?' Toni asked, 'I know you don't remember last night but I do, I do remember, and we came pretty close then too.' 

'I just... Can't... Have this conversation yet.' Cheryl mumbled. 

'Then we don't.' Toni shrugged, 'We don't have to have any conversation you aren't ready to have, I'll stop teasing I promise I just- I just want you to be okay, Cheryl.' 

'I'm so, so, not okay.' 

She started to cry, then and Toni just slid onto the couch and held her there for hours. They didn't talk about it, not once, in fact after that, they didn't talk at all for a few days, just stole glances at one another at school and sort of went back to being enemies that were always going to be that little bit infatuated with one another. Toni would always be there for Cheryl, and when she was ready she knew Cheryl would be there for her too. 

Cheryl had walls built 30ft high, and Toni would be damned if she let another year pass without burning them all down. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-warning: Scenes of recreational drug use.

The next day at school Toni and Cheryl sat across from one another in the Principal's office. 

Toni had taken the blame, and the suspension so that Cheryl wouldn’t have to talk to her Mother about where she’d been that day. It was hit or miss whether or not her Mother would even ask, but if she did, it was much better this way. Cheryl hated it, she really did, relying on Toni to take the blame for her just so that she could feel safe. 

Outside of the office Toni grabbed Cheryl by the hand and pulled her into the drama classroom; just like the morning before. 

‘I’m so-’

‘You took the blame for me.’ Cheryl said. 

‘No,’ Toni replied, perching herself on the makeshift stage at the side of the room. Cheryl sat down next to her, pressing the side of her hand up against Toni’s. She sighed and waited for the girl to finish what she was saying. ‘I took the blame because it was  _ my  _ idea.’ 

‘You don’t deserve suspe-’

‘I was born on the wrong side of the tracks Bombshell, no matter how much these Northside nancies like to forget that, the faculty never will.’ There was something lingering in her eyes that made Cheryl want to ask, that made Cheryl feel like she had to ask. Did Toni want people to forget? The way she carried herself, in her skintight black clothes and her serpents jacket, surrounded by hulking balls of testosterone and throwing her dirty mouth around like a frisbee, she wasn’t exactly screaming ‘Forget where I come from!’ Cheryl never could. Toni was dripping with this sultry, dark aura that she couldn’t escape. Cheryl didn’t want to forget where she came from. If anything, Toni was a breath of fresh air from the sweet stench of suburbia that humidified these halls. 

‘Do you… want people to forget?’ Cheryl asked, glancing down at her feet that swung beneath her. ‘I mean- Would  _ you  _ want to forget?’ 

Toni shrugged her shoulders. ‘It feels like I already have sometimes.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ Cheryl didn’t want to push her. Or rather, Cheryl didn’t want to want to push her, but she did. She wanted to know everything. 

‘I don’t know… Going to school here… Doing  _ well _ going to school here, cheerleading-’ 

‘Being the cheerleading  _ captain _ .’ Cheryl corrected her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, ‘Not to mention the best damn actress this school has ever seen… And-’ There was a long pause between them where the air grew thick and heavy, the weight of their attractions hanging in the space between them. 

Toni bit her lip, ‘And?’ 

‘The prettiest, if you  _ must  _ make me say it.’ Cheryl blushed. 

‘Didn’t kill you, did it?’ Toni teased, resting her head on Cheryl’s shoulder. 

Cheryl stiffened upon contact, and then relaxed into it, allowing herself to enjoy the warmth that flooded through her body when Toni was here. Toni who saved her, again and again, whether Cheryl asked her to, or more likely, didn’t. 

‘I-’ 

Another long pause fell between them. Toni had lifted her head and was looking at Cheryl will all sorts of softness in her eyes. There was a smile, or maybe half a smile that befell her lips and made Cheryl feel like everything was okay, just for a moment. 

‘Don’t have to say anything.’ Toni whispered, ‘You don’t have to-’ And then Cheryl shifted a tiny bit closer and all of the words fell back down her throat all at once. Just yesterday Cheryl had said she wasn’t ready to have this conversation, and now… Now she was looking at Toni’s mouth like the last thing she wanted from it was words. Toni supposed it was okay though if she didn’t want to talk about it, they didn’t have to. They could make out about it all she wanted though. 

‘You said that yesterday too.’ Cheryl said. A quick glance between soft brown eyes and plump pink lips. A lick of her own lips that made Toni feel like she might pass out. Was this really happening? Was Cheryl Blossom really about to kiss her in the drama room? 

Her breath caught in her throat and then in a moment of madness the words were thrust out of her mouth like a race horse, ‘I should get home before I get a personal escort off school grounds.’ 

‘T-’ Cheryl sighed but Toni was already on her feet and pacing the drama room and going to grab her phone beside Cheryl and then not because it was too close and her head was swimming and Cheryl was cross-legged on the stage smirking like a Cheshire cat. ‘You okay, TT?’ 

‘Splendid.’ Toni quipped, repeatedly pacing the floor. 

‘Some would even say sensational, I bet.’ Cheryl winked at her. Cheryl WINKED at her. 

‘Hold on a second.’ Toni said, accusingly, her eyebrows knitting together in a fine line, her feet stopping their incessant pacing. ‘Yesterday you said… And now you… What changed? What happened last night that’s made you so… so…’ 

‘So… what?’ Cheryl asked, eyes wide, innocent, full to brim with the teasing that she was putting Toni through. 

‘So… Me!’ Toni exclaimed, ‘All teasing and cocky and-’ Then she paused and look at the pinkness of Cheryl’s cheeks and the aversion of her eyes and an idea popped into her head, ‘Did you sleep okay last night?’

Pink turned to red and Toni had surprised herself. It was a guess, but if she was right she’d just hit a goddamn goldmine.

‘Cheryl. Blossom. You did NOT.’ Toni laughed, and then glanced up at the face riddled with confession and added, ‘Oh my GOD you did. YOU had a dream about me.’ The girl erupted in fits of laughter and Cheryl sat on the stage, face burning, hands pressed between her legs to keep them from grabbing Toni and shutting her up. 

‘It was more of a nightmare…’ Cheryl tried to sound coy or teasing, or anything other than what she really felt. 

‘Oh come on,’ Toni laughed, ‘It’s okay, really, I’d have dreams about me too if I were you.’ 

‘Toni!’ Cheryl exclaimed. 

‘Seriously Cher, it’s okay.’ Toni said, sitting back down next to the redhead, ‘That doesn’t change anything, there’s no pressure to jump my bones just because you did in a dream.’ She wrapped her arm tight around her shoulder and pressed a kiss to the temple of her head, ‘Really though, it was probably not-’ 

‘I didn’t… Jump your bones.’ Cheryl said, ‘It didn’t even really get that far…’ 

‘Oh?’ Toni quipped, ‘Did you get cold feet?’ 

‘No.’ Cheryl said, ‘You did.’ 

‘Me?’ Toni replied, shocked. ‘I got cold feet? Never. Unrealistic. Fake news.’ 

‘It was really… sweet, actually.’ Cheryl mumbled, almost quiet enough that Toni didn’t hear her.

‘Was I protecting your innocence?’ Toni smirked. 

Cheryl bit her lip and didn’t reply. 

Suddenly things got very serious, ‘Oh god… Dream me is better than real me, isn’t she?’ 

Cheryl didn’t say anything. 

‘Oh god… Is that… Was this a test?’ Toni asked. ‘Did you want to see if I’d kiss you or not?’ 

Cheryl shook her head vehemently. 

‘Cheryl…’ Toni murmured, softening her grip on the redhead, ‘I know… How confusing it can be, I’m sure you’re feeling a little bit conflicted about what you want right now… Especially after I just saved your ass. Again.’ 

‘No.’ Her voice was strong this time. ‘I’m really,  _ really _ not confused.’ 

‘No?’ 

‘No.’ 

‘How _ do  _ you feel about it?’ Toni asked, ‘Y’know, just… if that’s something you want to share.’ 

_ ‘Frustrated.’  _

‘Hmm.’ Toni pondered. ‘I guess my three-day suspension will help with that’ 

_ I’m sure there are other things that could help _ , was Cheryl’s thought process. ‘Hopefully’ Was the word on her lips. 

 

_ Toni’s mouth was hot and heavy on the heaving flesh of her throat, hands pressed roughly into hips. Cheryl writhed and whined in anticipation, the heat crept up her neck and into her cheeks as Toni edged down her chest, leaving adoring kisses across her full naked chest.  _

Cheryl wasn’t sure if it was guilt or heat that snapped her awake from her restless slumber on Saturday morning, probably a mixture of both. 

Toni’s suspension… Had _ not  _ helped. 

In fact, it had probably made things worse. Substantially, worse. Cheryl awoke in hot sweats every night since Toni left school on Wednesday morning before Cheryl’s second-period chem class. She hadn’t heard a word a teacher had said to her all day. She was floating around in a cherry red blissed out state of distraction and she didn’t know much longer she could last without exploding on the spot. 

Toni didn’t help. 

Her skirts got shorter, her lips got darker, her morning snapchats got… raunchier, not to mention the ones she would send before bed in her big t-shirts and tiny underwear. Cheryl knew she was doing it on purpose, and usually, she would’ve gotten upset, made up some bullshit about how she was straight, passed it off as what friends do, or before, what enemies do. Cheryl had never felt closer to the enemies label than she did right now. She wanted to drop the act so much it was making her early hatred for Toni bubble under her skin like a disease. 

So she chose to ignore her, briefly. As if it would help. 

She was doing quite well too until she couldn’t ignore her anymore. There she was, in all her glory in a matching underwear set sending a snapchat invitation for a party she was throwing inside the school, for some club that Archie and Veronica founded for the  _ elite _ of Riverdale Academy. Cheryl wasn’t considered one of them anymore, but if she was there with Toni, the story would change. Veronica even smiled at her once at school during the week. Archie had winked at her when he was running laps and she was doing her stretches. Betty Cooper had dropped by with a tube of jingle jangle and a dress code card. 

Cheryl had tried to say no. She really had. 

But all the dress code card said was ‘Leather’ and Cheryl couldn’t ignore the intrigue behind that concept. 

Toni had sent a box to her house, wrapped up in a red velvet bow. Cheryl’s Mother was probably fanning the streets of Riverdale for victims… Clients… Whatever she wanted to call them, so the package had survived. Jason had dropped it off in her room an hour after her waking with a sick smirk on his mouth.

‘Have a good night, little sister.’ He had said. 

Cheryl felt a bit sick after that. 

 

The pants made a bit of a weird sound when she walked toward the school, or maybe it wasn’t that noticeable and it was just her anxiety that amplified the sound. Either way, walking was a challenge. The pants Toni sent her were less like leather and more like latex, obviously a ploy. Also in the box was a black velvet shirt and Cheryl’s own makeshift biker jacket, without the decals. Cherry red in colour and looser than she expected Toni to give her. 

The pool house was vibrating the music was that loud, inside the pool was glistening with neon lights, and full to the brim with people who definitely did not go to Riverdale Academy. Cheryl suddenly felt like an intruder, she couldn’t see Toni anywhere and this was feeling like a very, very bad idea. She felt she looked more of an escort than her Mother was, and the people in the room had their eyes on her more hotly even than they had after her night with Toni on Monday. 

She was ready to leave when Betty Cooper approached her, donning a tight leather pencil skirt, a black bralette and that signature Dark Betty wig that she wore for all of her sexcapades. Cheryl had seen one of her cam shows one night when she and Jughead had been aimlessly looking for something to do when they were drunk. Jughead had thrown his laptop out the window that night. Cheryl felt scarred for life. 

It was worse in person. 

‘Cheryl! Hi!’ Betty said, pupils blown to the max. ‘A shot?’ She asked, raising an eyebrow, and a hand, containing yet another tube of jingle jangle. 

‘I’m… Good.’ Cheryl answered, turning down Betty’s invite. 

‘Oh come on Bombshell…’ Betty giggled, ‘We’re all friends here.’ She wrenched Cheryl’s jacket down her shoulders and threw it to Archie who approached with an arm slung round Veronica’s waist. His pupils were so blown his irises practically didn’t exist. Veronica’s eyes were entirely black, dark in colour even before “shots”. 

‘Where’s Toni?’ Cheryl asked. 

‘Oh she  _ was _ here,’ Archie said. 

He shot a glance at Veronica who smirked and followed with, ‘She had some business to attend to, she’ll be back soon.’ 

‘Until then…’ Betty said. 

‘You can party with us.’ Archie winked, taking the tube of jingle-jangle from Betty and ripping the tab with his teeth, pouring the coloured dust down his throat in one go. ‘See? It’s that easy.’ 

Cheryl began to feel increasingly uncomfortable. Why were they talking to her? What did they want? And where was Toni really? 

‘One shot.’ Cheryl answered, following behind the three of them towards the “VIP area” of the party, behind a heavy curtain that sealed off the hot tub section of the pool. Kevin Keller was making out with Fangs Fogarty in the hot tub, Chic Cooper was taking jingle jangle off a key in the corner of the room. Sweet Pea was shirtless and some girl was drawing on his chest with a sharpie while he smoked a cigarette, head tilted back, soaking the music into his pores. They looked like they were having a good time, surely one shot couldn’t hurt. Veronica ripped the tab with her teeth and passed the tube to Cheryl. 

‘Cherry red, for our Bombshell.’ Veronica drawled, eyes grazing over Cheryl’s form in her fitted outfit. Cheryl closed her eyes and tipped the dust to her lips, expecting to feel a rushing wave of something… anything… hitting her right away. When it didn’t, she glanced at Veronica with a raised eyebrow. 

‘Give it 15 minutes, Red.’ Veronica grinned, stripping off her leather cami dress and lowering herself into the hot tub. ‘Did you bring swimwear?’ Veronica asked. 

‘I don’t think leather retains water.’ Cheryl replied brazenly. 

‘You can always take them off if you’re worried.’ Archie suggested, stripping his black mesh shirt off his torso. 

This whole thing was a big sex fest, and Cheryl hated every second of it. 

Until… She didn’t. 

It didn’t take 15 minutes, maybe 8 or 9 until the feeling of pleasure rolled around the back of her head like a goddamn wave. The vibrations of the water against her skin matched the vibrations of the music, her head rolled back against the edge of the hot tub. Archie sat on one side of her and Veronica sat on the other, making eyes at each other across Cheryl’s body. 

‘Talk about wet look.’ Veronica commented, running a finger over the leather strap of the bralette that Toni sent in the box. 

If Cheryl had walls before, they’d all been torn down, set alight and ripped to shreds and they lay where her clothes did on the floor, accompanied by all of her inhibitions.

There was cold air gusting from the AC above them and the cold air hitting her cold skin felt like ice cubes. It was hot and stupid and Archie was shifting closer to her and Veronica was playing with her hair and all the while she had her eyes closed, head rolled back, enjoying the sensations. When the feeling of hot lips against her throat became one of those sensations all she could think about was her dream about Toni. All she could think about was Toni dressed in leather, feeling the way she did right now. And then her brain snapped to “business” and her eyes snapped open. Veronica glanced up at her with those black eyes, her lipstick smudged at the corners, no doubt some of it remained on her throat. Cheryl looked at Archie, confused.

‘It’s okay.’ Archie said, nodding towards Veronica. 

‘Is Toni back yet?’ Cheryl asked in a small voice. 

‘She should be back soon…’ Veronica said, dragging a careful hand over Cheryl’s shoulder. ‘I promise.’ Her voice dipped so low Cheryl swore the vibrations of it hit her right in her abdominal muscles. 

Her muscles tightened and rolled over each other and she hated herself for it but she let out a soft sigh and said, ‘Another shot?’ 

The three of them ripped the tabs of the tubes with their own teeth this time and swallowed the dust like sugar. Cheryl let the feeling take her right away. She wanted to dance. Dripping wet and wearing a red silk nightgown over her swimwear she, Archie and Veronica danced close, arms round necks and hips and legs between legs, the three of them becoming one in the movement and the haze and the music. 

The touches of two very different forms were like nothing Cheryl had ever felt before, now her protective walls were digging a hole for themselves, accepting their premature death, if not only to be dug up again in the morning. Archie was hulking and strong, tall and masculine and powerful. Veronica was tight and petite and sultry and strong and reaching her hands up Cheryl’s throat while the redhead danced closely with Archie. Betty was sitting between Fangs and Kevin now, running a hand over Fangs’ chest. Kevin was eyeing Chic Cooper from across the room. Were there any limits for the elite? 

Cheryl thought not. 

When Archie kissed her it felt like acid in her veins but with Veronica’s hot breath on her throat acted as a strong enough distraction to make it bearable. She wanted Toni and she wanted Toni now. This weird throuple would go no further than this. Even with the buzz in her veins, a distraction was only momentary. 

Toni, in the true nature of herself, had impeccably bad timing. Her leather skirt and black slash neck crop top wasn’t enough, clearly. Cheryl was attached to Archie by the mouth, with the hot mouth of Veronica Lodge wrapped round her pulse point when Toni pulled back the curtain, all smiles with Josie McCoy, ready to see the girl she wanted on her arm tonight. 

‘Are you  _ fucking _ serious?!’ It came out more like a growl than a question. Archie wore a smirked that could only be wiped away with a fist, Veronica looked at Toni for the first time since she arrived as though she was lesser. They were looking at her like what she was. A snake, who didn’t belong. Cheryl was looking at her like a lost puppy who had just found the perfect home.

‘TT!’ She exclaimed. 

Toni clenched her jaw, glancing between the two Northsiders and her Cheryl, the girl she’d loved to hate since she met her. 

‘I missed the big reveal.’ She sighed, picking Cheryl’s clothes up off the floor.

‘You weren’t here.’ Archie shrugged, ‘We were.’ 

‘Shut up, Bulldog.’ Toni snapped at him. ‘I’m not talking to you.’ 

‘Oh come on Toni, you know what the effects of JJ are… You can’t leave anyone unattended under those circu-’

‘Cheryl, can I borrow you for a second?’ Toni asked. 

Cheryl nodded frantically and allowed Toni to take her into the shower room by the hand. Toni pressed her back against the wall, feeling the vibrations from the party inside. She could’ve killed them. She probably could’ve killed Cheryl too if she hadn’t been under the influence of the most sex inducing drug those kids could’ve got their hands on. 

‘How’re you feeling?’ Toni asked, extending a hand to place it gently on Cheryl’s arm. 

Cheryl hummed in approval, closing her eyes again, she felt like she’d never been touched before, with Toni’s hand on her arm. When Toni’s hand, wet with water from the shower, cold and electric, reached up to wipe the lipstick mark of Cheryl’s throat, her breath hitched in her throat involuntarily. 

‘Oh honey,’ Toni sighed, trying to retract her hand, Cheryl grabbed it and placed it on her hip. ‘How much did you take?’ 

Cheryl held up two fingers, backing herself against the wall, bringing Toni with her by the touch on her hip. 

‘That stuff really isn’t worth it darlin’ Toni murmured, taking her hand and placing it in her back pocket, away from Cheryl. 

‘But-’ 

‘No buts…’ Toni said, reaching her hand up and running a hand across Cheryl’s cheek. Her eyes were so alert, so black, and heavy with desire. Toni felt the regret everywhere, but she needed to set things straight with Josie. Things would have been too complicated if she hadn’t. 

‘You’re so pretty.’ Cheryl mused.

‘I wish I’d seen you in your outfit.’ Toni sighed, clutching the other girl’s clothes under her other arm. 

‘Maybe I’ll put it back on when you take me home…’ Cheryl suggested, running her fingers up Toni’s arm, ‘I bet taking it off would top seeing it.’ 

‘Cheryl… Stop.’ 

Cheryl pouted and turned her gaze away from Toni. 

‘You’re only saying this because you’re high.’ Toni said. 

‘Maybe.’ Cheryl shrugged with a beaming smile, ‘But that doesn’t mean I don’t mean it.’ 

‘I brought some spare clothes, left them in the changing rooms for home time. How about we get you changed and take you home?’ Toni suggested.

Cheryl shook her head, ‘I want you to dance with me’ 

‘Then you’ll let me take you home?’ Toni asked. 

‘No.’ Cheryl protested, ‘You can’t drive when you’re high.’ 

‘I’m not taking any of that-’ She retorted. 

‘TT.’ Cheryl deadpanned, ‘You. Only. Live. Once.’ 

‘God, I hate you.’ Toni sighed, looking at those big eyes and that smiling mouth and honestly, the way she looked in that robe and that leather. She couldn’t say no, she huffed and puffed and took Cheryl’s hand again and said, ‘Fine, come on.’ 

 

Toni lay on the couch with Cheryl in her lap, both of them with eyes shut, listening to the music. Veronica and Archie had disappeared to the shower room almost an hour ago and Toni was glad Cheryl had made her leave. Everything was brighter, everything was bigger. Everything had changed. 

Cheryl wasn’t the same girl she was last week or even the same girl she was this morning when Toni sent her that picture of her in just her big t-shirt, with material draped in all the right places. Cheryl was on fire, burning, an entire inferno on one couch. Toni felt like an old building caught in the flames, not structurally sound enough to survive. 

 

Later the pair danced with not an inch of air between them, once Cheryl had changed into Toni’s spare underwear, she was fit to put her clothes back on, even though they made her feel too warm. Toni claimed it was because she was already so hot. Cheryl felt a wave of desire come over her in that second. The air between them was hot, so fucking hot and throbbing with the beat and the need and the want. Toni couldn’t stop looking at her in that velvet shirt. The contrast between her porcelain skin and the black, wet looking velvet was too much to handle. When Toni turned away from her and placed her back against Cheryl the redhead let out a deep sigh of approval. Toni’s body was so fluid, it ran like water over her skin. Cheryl could only imagine the girl doing the legendary serpent dance, but in a room where it was just them. She remembered the day Toni tried out for the River Vixens, God she didn’t know what she’d let herself in for. She was overthrown in weeks, happily and yet against her will. She’d assigned Toni the new captain, but only because she thought the other girls would object. When they didn’t, Cheryl was stuck with her decision. But how could she resist? Someone who moved like that was born to lead, to be in charge.  _ In charge _ . It was the thought of it alone that made her text Jughead to pick them up. 

 

The whole car ride home they were exchanging hot looks and running hands down arms and legs and up necks and into hair. They couldn’t keep themselves away from each other, it was like this huge magnet was dragging them together all this time and it had finally gained enough traction to complete its mission. Jughead made gagging noises when Toni opened her mouth to speak. Cheryl slapped round the side of his head when she got out of his car. 

 

The second they got inside the passion boiled over, flooding the floor of the Topaz household with inhibition free desire. Cheryl had just managed to get Toni out of her shirt, fully prepped to press her against a wall and kiss her when the wave of tiredness hit her. She sat down on the edge of the bed and watched as Toni finished changing into her pyjamas. 

‘Can you… change me… too?’ Cheryl asked in this tiny voice, shuffling up the bed with her arms around her knees and her chin on her knees. 

Toni smiled a lazy, blissed-out smile and grabbed some cotton pyjama shorts and a big shirt from her drawer. The movement of her hands on Cheryl’s skin was so gentle as she changed her out of the sweat-soaked leather and into the soft, cool cotton clothing.

The room was stained orange and yellow by the faintly rising sun when the two girls lay in bed together, nose to nose just staring. 

‘I had fun tonight.’ Toni said quietly, brushing Cheryl’s hair behind her ear. 

Cheryl nodded and wrapped an arm around Toni, nustling her head into Toni’s hair. Toni nestled herself in Cheryl’s chest, breathing in heavily. They’d made it, they hadn’t talked about it, so to speak, but they’d made it. She was sharing a bed with Cheryl Blossom. She had managed to make it through a whole night of drug and sex raged partying without even kissing her. 

This was real. 

‘I really want to kiss you.’ Cheryl said softly, ‘But I’m much too sleepy.’ She admitted, exhaling heavily. 

‘Maybe tomorrow.’ Toni suggested, smiling at the innocence in Cheryl’s tone. 

‘Definitely tomo…’ 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
